fryovanni

Is it metric?

Why would you put in and take out press fit studs 7-8 times during a build?, or maybe these are not press fit studs? Rich test fits, test line ups, test neck angle, action tests, stuff like that. i would never just drill the holes, and never test it once before finishing the whole guitar. One time in the white, to set the neck(angle, alignment) makes sense. Just seemed like 7-8 times was a bit much.

+1 A scarf joint will be faster and easier to work with, as well as provide a better orientation(reduce runnout).

Labor rates are probably the most significant difference, combined with less time spent for quality control, and attension to detail. Energy costs are also a huge factor, as how that energy is produced vs environmental impact is going to play a significant reginal role(energy cost exceeding labor is becoming a reality). Components must be the cheapest possible with durability, functionality playing second card to cost. Wood must be cheap, with little time allowed for selection, proper insurance of drying, or quality control. Finishing is going to be fast and efficient, but again the finishing methods and materials will be applied to get the job done fast not with less regard for quality. Little quality control, and a cheaper finishing material(possibly less safety consideration, less consideration to environmental impact). These guitars $100-200 guitars have to be delivered for $50-75(with a profit for the company, and losses or rejects built into that number). These guitars are built to be disposable after a little use, and playability or function during that limited life is going to play second fiddle to making a lot of cheap instruments. I suspect some extreamly skilled people that work on these guitars have the ability to make outstanding guitars, that would play wonderfully and last. You are not paying them to make a quality guitar though. You are asking the people that touch that guitar to do their work along with hundreds of others this week to barely put food on the table (they don't have time to stop if something is looking wrong, they have to keep moving). There is nothing wrong with CNC, it is an amazing tool. As with any tool there are levels of accuracy vs speed, some tools are built for better durability and accuracy, these tools require mainenance and monitoring as well as set up to work well. Running cheaper cutter heads longer, or quick sloppy maintenance and or set up can lead to less accurate results. Running faster with lower resolution may be cheaper, but accuracy and results are not as good. Again quality control is required, but not much is budgeted, so expect little. CNC takes the "soul" out of a guitar about as much as using a router or bandsaw(IMO), I don't buy into that line of logic at all. If these factories that are capable. Are given the budget to build with quality in mind. They could produce outstanding guitars, but then they cost a bit more. If you believe the workers at that factory should be safe, and considerations to environmental impacts are worth spending a bit more, they will cost a bit more. If you actually think the person building your guitar should make a decent living, with reasonable benifits, and be able to retire someday(I suspect you would want these things for yourself), then that will cost a bit more. The kinda ironic part is that the retailer is probably going to make as much if not more than the factory. Too bad you can't take the cheesy sales guy out of the equation and use that wage to buy the guy building it a little more time.

Why would you put in and take out press fit studs 7-8 times during a build?, or maybe these are not press fit studs? Rich

First- Most "oil finishes" are mostly poly blend(just a bit of oil, so your not soaking it with oil). If you are thinking of using pure tung oil, I would not. You can seal wood with a wash coat of shellac, and avoid much oil intrusion. This is what I would do if I used true oil. Here is a link to a recent thread-link As far as affordable alternatives. Shellac (french polish). To save a little typing this is what I said in the other thread- If your interested in trying FP. This gives you a wonderful tutorial-Milburns French Polishing Tutorial Peace,Rich

You making a guitar to tour the world with? I recall this topic coming up very recently. Here you go-link to topic Some builders finish the inside, some don't. Some have and stopped, because they feel it is not needed for instruments that are generally well maintained and taken care of. I think there is good logic behind slowing transitions, but it would need to be subjected to radical changes which most are not(at least it is avoided by most people). If it is a semi-hollow, the importance is probably much less(the dimensional changes will effect playability very little, at least as it applies to the inside of the box). All my opinion, so take it for what it is worth Peace,Rich

No, your not stressing anything to speak of, so there is nothing to become problematic. The hint of possible stress that could be introduced to other components(top/back) would be so slight it would be nothing compaired to stresses from seasonal expansion and contraction. Glad to hear the bending is going better As soon as you get a feel for how your equipment works you will be golden, I know it took a little bit for me to get used to my first Fox bender(bulbs and heatgun), as soon as I worked it all out it worked pretty well(not as well as the heat blankets I use now, but pretty reliable). Rich

Depending on the species, you will notice a little springback. What little springback you may have is not a problem per sey, as long as it conforms to your mold with just a tiny bit of pressure(by that I mean you can say use light finger pressure to move it into position). Even with a bit of springback it should pretty much hold the correct shape. If it is straightening out it did not take the bend, likely not hot enough, or it cooled without being held in the correct shape. When the wood reaches the correct temp it will soften the lignin. Lignin is kinda like HHG in that it softens at higher temps and as it cools it resets. As long as you soften the lignin and shape the fibers as you want them(without ripping the structure apart) and hold it there while the lignin resets, it should hold the new shape permenantly. On tuff to bend woods you may want to try something like supersoft(fiber softener) to help make the fibers more flexable and less likely to rip apart. Water acts to do this a bit also, as well as carries heat into the wood better. Peace,Rich

Marty, I do need to build a bass for a nephew in the near future. I am at the tail end of a project, then I will figure out what is next. I have two OOO I want to get going on, and a Dreadnaught but maybe I will do all four projects at the same time (not sure if that is a good idea, with my odd schedule ). Rich

Well it sounds like you have the heating under control, as long as it holds that temp. and you allow the temp. of the wood to come up(are you monitoring the temp. of the wood somehow?, it is a good idea to check it to see how long it takes the wood to get to temp. with your rig, and then you will get a feel for the timing in the future) it will hold the bend. One thing that is very helpful with pipe is to use a good slat to hold the wood to the pipe evenly. It also acts to keep the temp. of the wood even, and greatly reduces the chance of cracking. I use heat blankets to bend to a form. It has no significant over bending going on. I bring it to temp, bend and lock it to the form, thencook it a little longer to dry the wood well. Leave it in the form till it cools and bam, it is bent(no significant springback). Peace,Rich

Whether or not the diameter will work relates to the bend, actually having a diameter that suites your bend well has the added advantage of great support and even heating. You of course have to have a smaller pipe for tighter bends. I am suspicious of a 200 watt bulb being able to keep up during bending(much less require control) and get the wood up to proper temperature. My 3.5" pipe has a much higher wattage heating element and runs full on, and I can cool it if I don't take my time and allow it to keep up. Remember your going to be targeting a wood temp. of about 300 degrees(pipe temp will need to be a fair bit higher, as it is basically a big heat sink wanting to cool). Peace,Rich

You can pick up flap discs at Home Depot or Lowes. They remove wood fast so practice a bit, and get used to using it.

Roman, I am curious about your bracing. You mentioned acoustic style bracing and bridge block, and it looks like a pinned bridge. Tell us more Pics would be super if you happen to take a shot or two Beauty finish! Peace,Rich

I slot on my sliding miter saw(easiest with a square fretboard blank). I just about always bind, even if that is only a thin slice of binding cut from the blank(effectively only covers the sides of the slots). So I have to taper and bind before attaching. I don't see it as a big deal to attach the fretboard to the neck blank before slotting if you prefer, it would just be less practical for me. Rich

I stripped down a few guitars when I was getting into repairs and such. I will say that re-finishing is harder than finishing from scratch, at least if you are stripping it down to do a natural burst. As far as bursts go you can try it with rubbed dye, spraying dye, tinted clears or a combination of these methods. For me it seemed like spraying helped get a more even coat, but rubbing the first coat was ok also. This would be my base/ lightest color. I found it easiest for me to move to tinted clears from there using an air brush, either a two color burst or three. I had to practice on scrap for a while before I could get the angle and speed right, but tinted clears are pretty forgiving. When I tried rubbing it was hard for me to get nice smooth natural looking transitions (they always seemed blotchy or had hard transitions). The real trick to getting a good finish to me has always been in the prep. When I first tried re-finishing, I thought this was all about getting the wood perfectly smooth. Later I figured out a nice raw surface was needed, but the smooth finish comes from proper fill, and level. The raw surface has to be very level, so you can fill, and finish the leveling without cutting all the way through your filler coats. Then you can top it off with a very light coat and sand/polish it up. Level the raw wood well to about 240. If you have large pores, fill them and block back to level. Then apply filler/ leveling coats (build up enough to not sand through) and level with 800-1500 or so. Then apply a final clear that you can sand/polish to a high shine(you won't need anything coarser than 1500-2000 and take it up to 12000 if you can). People who are much better than me can do the fill/level/polish in one step, but I am not that good. The type of finish you use and using a proper schedule is really important. You will do best to follow the instructions of someone who is very proficient with the type of finish you are using(be sure they finish wood, not only metals, plastics, fiberglass etc...). You should plan on practicing on scrap wood for a while before you tackle the instrument. If you can't make it happen on scrap, you don't want to touch your bass.

The properties of a piece of wood makes it sound the way it does. These may both be called Ash, but there is a notable difference in there general properties. Much as Alder differs from Rock Maple. Swamp Ash is a very light resonant wood, with a surface hardness that is quite acceptable for a solid body. White Ash usually is much heavier and stiffer(similar to sugar maple). Generally it seems Swamp Ash has a bit better weight to stiffness ratio, which is usually a good thing. Right now there are a couple people selling some great Swamp Ash at VERY reasonable prices in the buy sell trade section. I actually even picked up a couple boards from Jim Soloway(nice guy). He is not asking much for the wood, and it is wonderful dry resonant Swamp Ash(great bargain). Peace,Rich

You are making a good choice on the top. Learning to veneer well has a whole learning curve to itself. You should go back to your book and study up on how neck angle relates to the bridge, to allow for proper range of adjustment. You should also draw your entire project on paper, full size. Be as accurate as possible, using measurements from your actual parts. If you can't draw it on paper, you can't make it with wood. This will answer most all your questions about neck angle, and such. Draw everything! Accurately. Make templates for all your routing tasks. Trem cavity, pickups, control cavity and so forth. Test your templates by routing a piece of pine or other inexpensive wood. Use this to make sure all your parts fit perfectly. Consider how your templates will be held in place at the time you choose to route, and consider parts that may become obsticles(like a fretboard that sets higher than the top of the body). Consider how you will go about routing the wings near the neck, and how you will shape the transition from the neck to the body. Think through all your building processes. Pre plan all your tasks, and pay close attension to the order you proceed with these tasks. Things like routing wire paths before glueing a top, waiting to glue wings until you have finished every task you can (wings get in the way, and make things more difficult). Think about how you will adjust for the thickness of the top you are adding, the neck blank will be ready to use with no top this means your going to jack the top up by adding material, this will relate to the fretboard height, and bridge mounting height, as well as pickups. A neck through is not difficult, but has to be planned better than a bolt on, or set neck, because the neck is cumbersome and you have no margin for err (can't shim or tweak a joint on a neck through). Think the process through completely, and plan well. Before you start any task make sure to dry fit, place clamps, look at how a router will travel and so forth. This will allow you to get all your ducts in a row, making sure you have everything you need, and that you will be able to use the tools safely and with good control. Rich

Spruce is a great wood, light and resonant, and very stiff for its weight. You would have a fairly light weight but respocive body(my gut would tell me it would be brighter than most hardwoods by weight). The big sketchy point would be how soft the wood is. It dings up on acoustic soundboards, and they are usually handled a bit more delicately than solid bodies. I think as a core wood, with thin hardwood caps(even 1/8" would provide a better ding resistant body) it could be very cool. Peace,Rich

Applied by the right people Catalized Urathanes and Polyester seem to be a wonderful finishes. Outstanding clarity, thin, durable. I have been looking over some of the Cat. Poly finishes that have been popping up at the OLF(not that they havent been around here for a while also). The thickness has been measuring out right about where Nitro winds up. The clarity is really impressive. The cure is fast UV or Catalized. I am itching to pull the trigger and have one shot for me. Peace,Rich

My necks usually require little if any adjustment. The truss rod is really just there to give a tiny bump if needed. Noting where you attached the neck to the body(pretty high), I bet that is a very stiff neck. I am glad you are very happy with your results Good for you! Rich

Why are many very well made acoustic guitars around $1000(give or take), and at the same time Jeffrey Elliot acoustics start at $13,000 with a fifteen year waiting list (not accepting deposits for new commisions). It comes down to the maker, and the makers reputation. Worth thinking about if you want to make a living selling hand crafted items, a reputation for quality carries a lot of value to the right market. I can't justify that kind of money for a plane, but if you have a certain level of income and do not need to accept anything other than just what you want to use(money is no object). They look like nifty planes, no compramise in quality. Peace,Rich

Bending thin metal is not hard, and I think it was brass strips I saw. I am sure you can buy different metals. Chrome would probabaly crack. It was just a thought. I have never tried it. Peace,Rich

Too much plane for me, on many levels . I think if I owned that it would never collect dust (it would be locked up in a glass display case or something). Peace,Rich

She is a beauty Chris